<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Escort by 00AwkwardPenguin00</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26930830">Escort</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/00AwkwardPenguin00/pseuds/00AwkwardPenguin00'>00AwkwardPenguin00</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Dragon of the Yuyan [23]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Episode: s02e12 The Serpent's Pass, Gen, but hopefully now things are a little more clear, enter: Suki!, guest starring the family from Zuko Alone, hey hey the Gaang's all here!, honestly this is more exposition and backstory than real plot</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 02:41:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,435</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26930830</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/00AwkwardPenguin00/pseuds/00AwkwardPenguin00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Zuko gets an up close and personal look at the effect the Fire Nation is having on the Earth Kingdom.</p>
<p>It's not pretty.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aang &amp; Toph Beifong &amp; Katara &amp; Sokka &amp; Suki &amp; Zuko, Aang &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Gansu/Sela (Avatar), Katara &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Lee &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Sokka &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Than/Ying (Avatar), The Gaang &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong &amp; Zuko</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Dragon of the Yuyan [23]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1582384</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>182</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2454</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Escort</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuffinLance/gifts">MuffinLance</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So there's a lot of exposition and backstory in this one, mainly because I was getting a little tired of answering the same questions over and over. Sorry about that!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Appa is gone.</p>
<p>Aang is inconsolable.</p>
<p>They make it across the desert, but not before the Avatar nearly blows the sandbenders that stole Appa off the face of the earth in his rage. Zuko is furious as well––he and Appa had spent many nights on watch together, and the bison knew things about him that <em>no one</em> did. If Aang hadn't gone into the Avatar State, Zuko probably would've burnt the sandbenders to ash himself.</p>
<p>They celebrate getting out of the desert by spending a few hours at a canyon swimming hole, washing the sand and dust and sweat from their bodies and clothes. Katara glories in her element, while Aang grimly practices his waterbending and Toph splashes her feet. Zuko tends to his weapons, the routine maintenance soothing the anxiety he feels with the absence of Appa and the majority of their supplies. The others had made fun of him for going into Wan Shi Tong’s library fully armed, but now he’s glad he had. He misses his Blue Spirit mask keenly, as well as his fire-chili powder and his scrolls of Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation plays, but Pandan the Turtleduck is safe in his secret pocket in Zuko’s quiver, and Uncle’s dagger is hidden securely in Zuko’s boot, and he has his dao and his bow and his throwing knives. Everything else can be replaced, except Appa himself.</p>
<p>As Sokka plans their route through the Serpent’s Pass, a group of travelers approach—two men (one older and muscular enough to bench press both Zuko and Sokka, the other younger and scrawny as a beanpole), three women (the first older and very careworn, the second younger and <em>very, very</em> pregnant— Zuko is suddenly very glad Katara stuck with her healer’s training in addition to her combat training— and the third maybe only a few years older than Zuko), and a kid maybe a year or so younger than Toph. They’re all dressed in shades of green and tan, and all look very travel-worn. The kid has similar features to the older man and woman, and their clothes all seem to be made of the same plain homespun material, while the three younger adults are dressed just a little more finely. Two families, then, traveling together for safety.</p>
<p>They mention a ferry, hidden from Fire Nation forces, that takes refugees directly into Ba Sing Se, and as Katara starts ribbing Sokka, Zuko has to tamp down on the wildly inappropriate grin that wants to spread across his face. One of the biggest mysteries for the Fire Nation's campaigns in the Earth Kingdom was how the refugees were getting inside the Walled City. Azulon, and Ozai after him, had spent <em> years </em> trying to find the crack in the Walls that the refugees were slipping through, but was invisible to the Fire Nation. Now Zuko, former Prince of the Fire Nation, is going to walk right into the Earth Kingdom's best kept secret. The irony is <em>hilarious</em>.</p>
<p>The reality is less so.</p>
<p>The first thing that hits is the smell. Thousands of bodies crammed into an enclosed space, even one as enormous as this huge cave, all in various stages of unwashed and unhealthy. Food being cooked, campfires burning, trash rotting––Zuko can barely breathe. The tents, all in different states of repair and disrepair, stretch nearly as far as the eye can see, and the ceiling of the cave is nearly obscured from the smoke from hundreds of campfires. It's really noisy as well, thousands of voices talking, crying, laughing, shouting, and singing, fires crackling, pots and pans and tools clanging, the cacophony of life echoing though the cavern.</p>
<p>The feeling of standing at the entrance to the ferry terminal, seeing the <em>thousands</em> of displaced and miserable people, families with members missing, the sheer choking <em>despair</em> permeating the very air of the place… it hits Zuko like a punch in the throat. <em>This</em> is what Sozin's glorious March of Civilization has wrought, and what Azulon and Ozai's cultures of war have perpetuated. None of these people have a home to return to. They're stuck here, in this terminal, waiting for their chance to get to the last Earth Kingdom stronghold and resume their lives.</p>
<p>The line to the ticket desk stretches nearly to the entrance to the cave, and it takes hours to get to the front. They let Gansu, Than, and their families go before them, but when they get their turn, the ticket lady refuses to believe that Aang is the Avatar (and she might have a point, as she gestures to a whole gaggle of fake Avatars). </p>
<p>That's not enough to stop Toph, though. Even though the top of the desk is just over her head, she slides something onto the surface that makes the ticket lady's eyes go <em>huge</em>.</p>
<p>"The golden seal of the Flying Boar! It is my pleasure to serve anyone of the Beifong family!" She declares grandly, and Zuko wants to gag.</p>
<p>"It <em> is </em> your pleasure," Toph sneers. "You see, I'm blind, and these four imbeciles are my valets and my bodyguard." Aang, Sokka, and Katara all clump together and grin stupidly, while Zuko crosses his arms and pretends not to know them.</p>
<p>"But… the animal––"</p>
<p>"––Is my seeing-eye lemur," Toph finishes coolly, as Momo lands on her shoulder with a chirp.</p>
<p>The ticket lady dithers for a moment, but stamps out five ferry tickets and hands them over.</p>
<p>A security guard pulls Sokka over, and they talk for a moment before she darts in and kisses Sokka on the cheek. He blinks, and then a huge grin spreads on his face. "Suki!"</p>
<p>Sokka turns and waves Zuko and the others over. "Hey guys! Suki's here!"</p>
<p>"Suki, good to see you," Aang says, walking over and bowing placidly.</p>
<p>"Hey guys!" The girl, Suki, grins broadly as she hugs first Aang and then Katara. "Come on, I'm on a break. Let's go over here." She leads them over to an empty boarding area.</p>
<p>"It's so nice to see you guys again," Suki says, leaning against a wall. "I see the family’s grown since last time. It's nice to meet you, I'm Suki, Commander of the Kyoshi Warriors."</p>
<p>"Toph Beifong, greatest Earthbender in the world, and Twinkletoes' Earthbending teacher," Toph says.</p>
<p><b><em>I'm Zuko, Aang's Firebending teacher and bodyguard,</em></b> Zuko signs, with Sokka interpreting.</p>
<p>Suki blinks, looking between Sokka and Zuko with a torn expression. "You're a <em>firebender?</em> How'd you guys find one that didn't want to roast Aang on sight?"</p>
<p><b><em>I defected from the Fire Nation army,</em></b> Zuko signs. <b><em>Aang had gotten himself captured, and I broke him out. This war is just as bad for my people as it is for everyone else, and I want to help end it.</em></b></p>
<p>"We trust him, Suki, he's on our side," Katara says earnestly.</p>
<p>"Okay, if you say so," Suki replies, shrugging doubtfully.</p>
<p>They shoot the breeze for a while, until a voice from down on the terminal floor catches their attention. It's Ying, nearly hysterical in tears, with Than and the others. Gansu looks furious, while Sela, Than, and Than's sister Cam are trying fruitlessly to calm Ying down. Lee hangs on Gansu's tunic, looking small and scared.</p>
<p>"Avatar Aang, you have to help us!" Ying cries. "Someone took all of our belongings; our passports, our tickets, everything's gone!"</p>
<p>"I'll talk to the lady for you," Aang tells her immediately.</p>
<p>The ticket lady is not sympathetic in the least.</p>
<p>Aang argues with her for at least ten minutes, but to no avail. Without their passports, Gansu's and Than's families can't get new tickets, and won't be allowed on the ferry.</p>
<p>Aang has a grave expression on his face as he rejoins the group. "Don't worry, you'll get to the city safely," he tells Gansu and the others. "I'll escort you through the Serpent's Pass."</p>
<p>They're joined by Suki, and Zuko really, really wants to get a closer look at the war fans she has tucked into the belt of her forest green armor. Her facepaint is awesome too, and as they head out of the terminal and towards the towering spike of rock jutting out of the lakes, Zuko taps Sokka on the shoulder.</p>
<p>"What's up, Jerkbender?" The warrior asks.</p>
<p>Zuko points at Suki walking just ahead of them, shows Sokka the sign for <em>"ss"</em>, then holds it to the top of his forehead and circles his face in a clockwise motion.</p>
<p>"Is that Suki's name sign?" Sokka asks. Zuko nods. </p>
<p><b><em>Think she'll like it?</em></b>He asks. Suki's already suspicious of him, he doesn't want to make things worse by insulting her.</p>
<p>"Being a Kyoshi Warrior is really important to her, I'm sure she'll love it," Sokka assures him.</p>
<p>They pass through the entrance, and start the trek across the narrow path. Zuko has no problem with heights, and is a pretty strong swimmer as well, but falling into water from this height would <em>not</em> be healthy, and he's not embarrassed to admit that he hugs the cliff wall a little more tightly than he would otherwise.</p>
<p>There's a bit of excitement with a rockslide and a Fire Navy ship, and Zuko spends the rest of the day keeping an anxious lookout for more ships. Suki's rumor about the Fire Nation doing something in the Western Lake is worrying, and when he's not scanning the horizon, he's wracking his brain for anything he remembers reading back at the Stronghold about the area. But his info is at least three or more months out of date at this point, and short of finding a command post and breaking in, there's not much he can do to get more up-to-date intelligence.</p>
<p>The group makes camp that night on a ledge that spans the entire width of the Pass. Zuko lights the campfire, as he does every night for his squad, and while Suki only sends him a suspicious glance, the two refugee families recoil in fear like Zuko had just turned into Koh the Face-Stealer right in front of them.</p>
<p>"Hey, what's up?" Sokka asks, blinking at Gansu, who is shielding Sela and Lee.</p>
<p>"Young man, are you aware that your friend is a firebender?" Gansu snarls.</p>
<p>"He's Aang's firebending teacher," Katara replies sharply. "He's on our side."</p>
<p>Zuko feels his heart sink as the two families continue to regard him with fear and suspicion. These people had been hurt by firebenders, and Zuko knows how hard it was to trust after being hurt.</p>
<p>He snaps his fingers softly to get his friends' attention, and quickly signs, <b><em>It's okay, I'll go keep watch or something…</em></b></p>
<p>"Zuko, no," Aang says firmly. "Part of bringing balance back to the world is rebuilding the trust between the nations." He turns to the refugees. "Zuko of the Fire Nation has my complete trust. He is my Firebending Master, and he is one of the kindest people I've ever met, and one of the fiercest protectors you could have. He would never hurt anyone without a very good reason. I promise on my honor as the Avatar that you're all perfectly safe with him."</p>
<p>The adults all glance at each other worriedly, but Cam smiles nervously and leans forward.</p>
<p>"Zuko? Could you show us some firebending?" She asks softly.</p>
<p>Zuko nods, and forms a flame at his fingertip. Keeping his breathing even, he draws in midair, the flame leaving a trail that forms a little cartoon of Momo.</p>
<p>Lee lets out a tiny giggle, and Zuko smiles as he draws another cartoon, this time of a pig chicken. Various pig hybrids follow, and Lee’s face lights up in delight as he tugs on his mother’s dress.</p>
<p>“Mom, Mom, look, it’s the farm!” He says excitedly. Sela’s answering smile is pained, and she tightens her grip on the boy when he starts wriggling away, but he slips away from her and scrambles closer to Zuko and the campfire.</p>
<p>“Make a tigerdillo!” He demands, and Zuko smiles and obliges.</p>
<p>Zuko draws cartoon animals with fire until Lee falls asleep, then backs away as Gansu comes over to collect the kid. The huge man gives him an unfathomable look as he gathers Lee up in his arms, and Zuko wonders if his own father had ever cared enough about him to be so protective.</p>
<p>With the little kid off to bed, the group settles in for the night. Zuko tends the campfire with his bending, while the others chat quietly.</p>
<p>“Hey Zuko, show Suki her name sign!” Sokka says suddenly, his body angled forward eagerly.</p>
<p>“Wow, you gave Suki a name sign already?” Katara asks. “That was fast, you usually take longer than half a day to come up with one.”</p>
<p>“What’s a name sign?” Suki asks.</p>
<p>Katara explains how Zuko uses the Yuyan Hand-Language to communicate, and that name signs are like shorthand nicknames.</p>
<p>“It’s considered rude for people to give themselves name signs, they have to be given to you by fluent speakers of the language,” she says. “This one is mine.” She forms both hands into the sign for the <em>“kk”</em> sound, and moves them downward from her hairline to behind her ears. “It represents my hair-loopies and the first sound of my name.”</p>
<p>“Huh, that’s pretty interesting,” Suki muses. “So what’s my sign?”</p>
<p>Zuko nervously shows her, as Sokka explains. Suki is delighted, thankfully, and asks to know what everyone else’s signs are. She easily guesses which signs belong to whom, and even picks up some basic sign quickly.</p>
<p>“The Kyoshi Warriors have a hand signal code for stealth missions, so this isn’t so different,” she shrugs. “But, Zuko, why don’t you talk? Did you get injured?”</p>
<p>“You know, I’ve been really curious about that too,” Sokka says.</p>
<p>Katara places a hand on Zuko’s arm. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” she says quietly.</p>
<p>Zuko smiles at her. <b><em>Thank you, but it’s okay,</em></b> he signs, with Sokka interpreting for Suki and Toph. <b><em>I’m not hurt physically, but… something bad happened to me, when I was a kid. I spoke out, to someone who didn’t want to hear what I had to say. When I tried to beg for forgiveness… he hurt me. He didn’t care what I had to say, he went out of his way to hurt me in the worst way he could think of to shut me up, and now… every time I think about talking out loud, I’m scared that I’ll get hurt again. I’m so scared of talking out loud, of being hurt again for what I say, that it makes me panic whenever I try. I freeze up, and all I can think about is when he hurt me, and the pain, and how scared I was. </em></b> He has to suppress a shiver when Ozai's voice echoes <em>suffering will be your teacher</em>, and he appreciates Sokka's steadying hand on his shoulder.</p>
<p>He takes a moment to drink some water, shoves Ozai's voice back into the iron box in his mind where it belongs, and continues. <b><em>When I joined the Yuyan Archers, they gave me my voice back, a way to communicate without being scared. The Yuyan take a vow of silence when they reach enlistment age, and only communicate in hand-language. They taught me to sign, and I taught Aang, Sokka, and Katara, and Toph and I use signal code, because she can’t see when I sign. I don’t know if I’ll ever talk out loud again, but my family and my friends can understand me, and that’s enough for me, for now.</em></b></p>
<p>Sokka's grip on his shoulder is nearing painful, and the naked rage on the warrior's face is shocking to see on someone who is normally even-tempered. Katara looks heartbroken, and even Aang's worrying passivity has given way to concern. Toph looks ready to cause an earthquake, the tiny pebbles at her feet vibrating.</p>
<p>Gansu, Than, and Sela are regarding him thoughtfully, and Sela murmurs, "It's hard to remember that the first country that the Fire Nation conquered was their own."</p>
<p><b><em>My people aren't evil, they've been misled,</em></b> Zuko signs tiredly. <b><em>Individuals aside, my people are good, and honorable, and loyal. But a fire only survives when it's fed, and we've been fed so many lies and hatreds over the last hundred years.</em></b></p>
<p>That night, Toph forgoes her usual rock-tent and curls up against his side, and Sokka presses his back against Zuko's left shoulder. Sleep is still difficult, memories roaring and snarling like fighting pygmy pumas in the back of his mind, but the physical reminder of his friends helps, and he gets enough sleep to be functional.</p>
<p>It helps that the next day is almost boring in its monotony, although Lee and Cam nearly bend his ears with questions and chatter. This lasts until they reach a huge gap in the path, at least a quarter mile of water separating them from the other side. For a moment they all stand in silence, until Katara takes a deep breath and orders everyone to walk in pairs.</p>
<p>Walking underwater is <em>so fucking cool</em>. Katara and Aang work together to bend the air pocket they're walking in, and if that damn sea monster hadn't popped it, they probably would've made it to the other side easily.</p>
<p>But it does, and it's only Toph's quick reaction that saves them all from drowning. Katara bends an ice bridge to the opposite bank, and Sokka and Suki lead the refugees across. Toph hesitates, but Zuko lifts her bodily in his arms and runs. A rogue tail crashes into the bridge behind them, shattering it and throwing them into the water. Zuko barely misses a beat before he's shifting Toph onto his back and swimming for dear life. It'll be a miracle if all of his blades don't rust, but that's less important than their lives.</p>
<p>Aang and Katara run the sea serpent off, and return in time for Ying to go into labor. Sokka freaks out, because Sokka can always be relied upon to freak out over the stupidest things, but Katara takes command and soon there’s a red, wrinkly, loud little bean of a baby wrapped in a blanket in Ying’s arms. Than looks like he’s going to pass out from sheer joy, and Cam seems happily resigned to her fate as a live-in babysitter. Zuko, Sokka, Toph, and Lee gather around curiously.</p>
<p>Aang comes in as the new parents are trying to figure out the baby’s name, and tears fill his eyes as he mumbles about being hopeful again.</p>
<p>Ying immediately latches onto the word <em>hope</em>, and Than agrees. They turn to Zuko.</p>
<p>“Zuko, is there a name in the Fire Nation that means <em>hope</em>?” Than asks. “We want to name her both for our hope for a better life in Ba Sing Se, but also for the hope you inspire as someone from the Fire Nation working to end the war. We mustn’t forget that bringing balance to the world means the <em>entire</em> world, including the Fire Nation.”</p>
<p>Zuko nearly chokes on his breath. They want <em>him</em> to name their baby? He looks at Katara and Aang in panic, but the encouragement he sees on their faces is <em>not</em> helpful. Sokka has a shit-eating grin on his face as he hands Zuko a stick to write on the floor with, and Zuko utilizes every ounce of stubbornness he has to keep from flipping his brother warrior off.</p>
<p><em>There’s a few I can think of, off the top of my head,</em> he writes hesitantly. <em>Kazuki, Mizuki, Saki, Yuki.</em></p>
<p>“Saki… I like that one,” Ying says softly. “Thank you, Zuko.”</p>
<p>He bows in return, and flees outside to stand guard.</p>
<p>Once everyone's rested and cleaned up, and Zuko's checked his equipment for water damage (miraculously, none has occurred, and Zuko sends a quick prayer of thanks to Akai the Hunter for her blessing), they get ready to start moving again.</p>
<p>But Suki hesitates.</p>
<p>"It's wonderful to see you all again, and to meet you, Zuko and Toph, but I need to be getting back to the other Kyoshi Warriors," she says softly. She sends a significant look at Sokka, who takes her hand. They wander off together, and Sokka comes back alone, looking both blissful and heartbroken.</p>
<p>They start on their way, Aang taking point and Zuko covering the rear, with Gansu carrying Ying and everyone else taking turns with the baby. It takes most of the rest of the afternoon, but as the sun begins sinking under the horizon, they catch sight of the massive walls of Ba Sing Se.</p>
<p>They made it.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Next time: <b>Reconstruction</b></p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>